Sumo chairman dined at Michelin restaurant day scandal broke

TOKYO (TR) – On the night of February 3, the day the sumo bout-rigging scandal was revealed, the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association was photographed dining at a Michelin 1-star Japanese restaurant in Tokyo, reports Shukan Shincho (Feb. 17).

JSA Chairman Hanaregoma was seen with an unidentified man at the white wood counter inside the restaurant, which goes unnamed but is reported to have received its award from the tire company in last year’s edition of its popular guide. The tabloid adds that the course menu at the establishment, located in the Akasaka entertainment area, begins at 10,000 yen.

That day the JSA confirmed that text messages discovered on the mobile phones of 13 senior wrestlers have implicated them in systematic bout-fixing. Last year, a separate scandal implicated a number of wrestlers in a gambling ring that focused on baseball games.

“This is the greatest stain in the history of sumo,” the 62-year-old Hanaregoma told reporters on Sunday, when the announcement was made that the Osaka tournament in March would be cancelled.

The tabloid does not mention whether Hanaregoma has a future in restaurant reviews.

Posted by Tokyo Reporter on February 10, 2011. Filed under Tokyo Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

5 Responses to Sumo chairman dined at Michelin restaurant day scandal broke

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Roberto Reply

February 10, 2011 at 8:13 pm

Yeah, but … aren’t there around 300 Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo now? Or more? Aren’t Michelin stars in Tokyo cheaper than a Patpong hooker at 3:00 a.m.? You can’t swing your mawashi in Tokyo without hitting a Michelin-starred restaurant.
- CJ Reply
  
  February 11, 2011 at 10:12 am
  
  It’s a Japanese restaurant in Akasaka. There can’t be that many with 1 star.
Buck Reply

February 11, 2011 at 2:47 am

If he had eaten at Yoshinoya and had an Omori bowl of gyudon, would that have been news too? The guy does have to eat.
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